Astronomers claim that the Earth has two ghostly dusty moons



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A team of astronomers and physicists claim to have confirmed that the Earth possessed two ghostly dusty moons a few hundred thousand kilometers away, according to a new study.

Kordylewski's elusive dust clouds, named in honor of the Polish astronomer Kazimierz Kordylewski, who first noticed them in 1961, are a controversial subject. First theorized in the 1950s, clouds are said to cluster around Lagrange's semi-stable L4 and L5 points, where gravitational forces maintain the relative position of objects and move around the Earth. when the Moon moves on its orbit.

But they are so weak that their very existence is debatable. Kordylewski observed two masses of dust at L5 in 1961 and other reports supported it, but the pseudo-satellites are not always observable. The Japanese space probe Hiten, for example, failed to detect clouds using the Munich Dust Counter, an impact ionization detector designed to determine the mass and speed of cosmic dust when crossed points L4 and L5 in 2009.

Mosaic of polarization angle around L5 point (white point) of the Earth-Moon system. The five rectangular windows correspond to the fields of view of the polarimetric imaging telescope with which the polarization diagrams of the Kordylewski dust cloud were measured. (Credit: J. Slíz-Balogh University / Eötvös Loránd)University J. Slíz-Balogh / Eötvös Loránd

Earlier this year, a Hungarian team led by Gábor Horváth of Eötvös Loránd University modeled Kordylewski clouds to assess their formation and eventual detection. They theorized that clouds could appear if they used polarizing filters, such as those used in sunglasses, to capture reflected and reflected light from the dust.

Thanks to a polarizing filter system linearly attached to a camera lens and a CCD detector in the private observatory of co-author Judit Slíz-Balogh in Hungary, the team was able to capture the polarized light reflected by the dust , extending well outside the field of view of the camera. goal, at L5. The pattern corresponds to their own predictions about the location of the dust moon and the observations made originally by Kordylewski.

"Kordylewski clouds are two of the most difficult objects to find. Although they are as close to Earth as the Moon, they are largely ignored by astronomers. It is intriguing to confirm that our planet has dusty pseudo-satellites in orbit alongside our lunar neighbor, "said Slíz-Balogh in a statement issued for the Royal Astronomical Society.

It is also a discovery that deserves to be explored further. Because of their stability, Lagrange points are often presented as potential sites for space stations that would allow further exploration of the galaxy as starting points for journeys to Mars, as well as refueling stations. for mining operations, a place of storage of pollutants or even places of storage. live. But scientists will first need to know if dust poses a danger to future astronauts or astronauts.

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A team of astronomers and physicists claim to have confirmed that the Earth possessed two ghostly dusty moons a few hundred thousand kilometers away, according to a new study.

Kordylewski's elusive dust clouds, named in honor of the Polish astronomer Kazimierz Kordylewski, who first noticed them in 1961, are a controversial subject. First theorized in the 1950s, clouds are said to cluster around Lagrange's semi-stable L4 and L5 points, where gravitational forces maintain the relative position of objects and move around the Earth. when the Moon moves on its orbit.

But they are so weak that their very existence is debatable. Kordylewski observed two masses of dust at L5 in 1961 and other reports supported it, but the pseudo-satellites are not always observable. The Japanese space probe Hiten, for example, failed to detect clouds using the Munich Dust Counter, an impact ionization detector designed to determine the mass and speed of cosmic dust when crossed points L4 and L5 in 2009.

Mosaic of polarization angle around L5 point (white point) of the Earth-Moon system. The five rectangular windows correspond to the fields of view of the polarimetric imaging telescope with which the polarization diagrams of the Kordylewski dust cloud were measured. (Credit: J. Slíz-Balogh University / Eötvös Loránd)University J. Slíz-Balogh / Eötvös Loránd

Earlier this year, a Hungarian team led by Gábor Horváth of Eötvös Loránd University modeled Kordylewski clouds to assess their formation and eventual detection. They theorized that clouds could appear if they used polarizing filters, such as those used in sunglasses, to capture reflected and reflected light from the dust.

Thanks to a polarizing filter system linearly attached to a camera lens and a CCD detector in the private observatory of co-author Judit Slíz-Balogh in Hungary, the team was able to capture the polarized light reflected by the dust , extending well outside the field of view of the camera. goal, at L5. The pattern corresponds to their own predictions about the location of the dust moon and the observations made originally by Kordylewski.

"Kordylewski clouds are two of the most difficult objects to find. Although they are as close to Earth as the Moon, they are largely ignored by astronomers. It is intriguing to confirm that our planet has dusty pseudo-satellites in orbit alongside our lunar neighbor, "said Slíz-Balogh in a statement issued for the Royal Astronomical Society.

It is also a discovery that deserves to be explored further. Because of their stability, Lagrange points are often presented as potential sites for space stations that would allow further exploration of the galaxy as starting points for journeys to Mars, as well as refueling stations. for mining operations, a place of storage of pollutants or even places of storage. live. But scientists will first need to know if dust poses a danger to future astronauts or astronauts.

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